Afterschool
by ateebs
Summary: AU. Sakura and Ino are in highschool together. Ino's queen bee, and Sakura's... Sakura. Basically just another high school story. InoSaku
1. Chapter 1

**So I wanted to increase my writing skills before I attempted Ino and Sakura, one of my favorite couples, but I just couldn't stop myself in the end. I mean what can you do? There's no way to resist the friendship, the anger! The friendship again!**

**Oh yeah, so **_this is Sakura thinking_**, and ****_this is inner Sakura_****, in case you don't know.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any characters in it.**

* * *

She loathed hallways. Hallways were catwalks, where every eye was on you. The only difference between the two was that on a catwalk, people judge you openly, whereas in a hallway, however, people pretend not to judge you, or even notice you, though they do. This was why she only got her books when necessary, and, after getting her books, she always sidled away at the edge of the hallway and society. She did her best to go unnoticed, which wasn't easy when you had bright pink hair. But still, she'd managed to get through the whole first quarter without any major incidents. _Good job you!_ she congratulated herself, barely managing not to herself a pat on the back.

As she scuttled away, such a rustle of nervous movement erupted throughout the hallway that even Sakura was pulled out of her daze. She sighed as she noted that the cause was, as usual, Ino Yamanaka. Catwalk or hallway, Ino strutted it with absolute confidence, flanked by two of her (for lack of a better term) posse. The surrounding herd of teens in the hallway stopped and stared, shedding feigned indifference for gazes of pure admiration. Sakura shook her head, using the distraction to slip slowly towards the bathroom, but her body froze when green and blue eyes met across the expanse of bodies. She glanced towards the bathroom door, then back to Ino. Though her body was frozen, her mind was racing.

_**She's looking right at you!**_

_Me? She's not looking at me. Why the fuck would she be looking at me?_

_**Oh my god, she's walking over. Shit, we're screwed. Fuckity fuck fuck fuck!**_

**_Get in the bathroom, maybe she didn't see us!_**

_Of course she saw us, you idiot! Just play it cool. Play it cooooool..._

She leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. The closer Ino got, the more nervous Sakura got. By the time Ino was about twenty feet away, the shaking began. Sakura closed her eyes and mouthed the lyrics to Teenagers to calm herself.

"Talking to yourself, freak? I didn't realize that you were that desperate for friends." Sakura opened her eyes to a mocking smile. Any kids that had been somewhat near her began drifting away. No one wanted to be caught in Ino's crossfire. Ino didn't notice, bending in to snarl into Sakura's ear, "Bathroom."

She gestured to her two dainty goons. "Watch the door for teachers." The two nodded, looking amused. Meanwhile, Sakura brain was running a mile a minute.

**_Should we try to run?_**

_She couldn't force us in; we're stronger than her!_

**_Yeah!_**

_So, to run or not to run?_

**_That is the question._**

_We're going to get the shit beat out of us huh?_

**_Yup._**

She peeked in, going completely against her nerd instincts. She barely had time to register the dull brown and green tiles of the bathroom floor before Ino shoved her in a stall, further isolating them. They stood face to face, or rather, face to chin in the tiny stall.

"Why the stall?" Sakura asked. There was no one else in the restroom to hear their conversation (or beating) anyhow.

Ino shot her a scorn-filled glance. "What if someone managed to get in? They would see me. With you," the blonde scoffed. Sakura felt her temper rising. She hadn't come in here to let herself be insulted.

"Look, what do you want?" she spat. She raised her chin to glare up into to Ino's face. The blonde stared down her nose haughtily, the smirk from earlier gone. She glanced left, then right before daring to speak. "I need your help."

Sakura almost burst out laughing, the situation was so ridiculous. The girl who had literally made it her mission to make Sakura's school life a living hell was now asking (or rather, demanding) for her help. Sakura pushed past Ino and headed for the door of the stall. She cracked it open only to have it slammed shut seconds later. The sound echoed around the empty restroom. Sakura spun to face Ino, looking at her like she'd lost her mind. Ino pushed against the stall door, one hand on either side of Sakura, effectively trapping her. Her eyes were wide and panicky, and she looked down to gather herself. When she looked back up her expression was calm, but her words held a whiff of menace.

"Look here bitch, I'm being serious right now," she explained, staring Sakura down. Sakura glared back. "I need someone to teach me this Calculus shit, and everyone knows that you're the smartest, besides Shikamaru." Sakura smirked. After all, it was true.

"Now tell me, why the _fuck_ should I help you?" Sakura demanded, enjoying the sweet sound of tables being turned. "You've never been anything but a bitch to me and my friends."

Ino smirked and nodded, looking almost proud, but shifted to her calm mask again when she saw Sakura's fist clench."Look, you know I practically run this school." Sakura furrowed her brow, but nodded begrudgingly. "I'll stop actively seeking out you and your little band of freaks, as long as you cooperate." Sakura's eyes got wide and greedy as she considered the implications.

_No Ino?_

**_We could eat lunch in the cafeteria without getting pelted with spaghetti!_**

_We could study in the library without having our books stolen!_

**_We could change in the locker room safely!_**

_We could sit in the front of the classroom without combing out spitballs at night!_

**_We could walk through the hallway without getting tripped or teased!_**

_Did you say hallway? Because I love hallways!_

**_We could-_** "There are some rules, of course," Ino interrupted. Sakura frowned, cutting off her inner celebration. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Ino began ticking of the rules on her finger. "Number one: You can't tell anyone, and I mean _anyone_ about this tutoring thing. I don't want to be associated with you." Her lip curled in disgust at the thought. Sakura nodded easily. She didn't really have many people to tell this to anyway. Not that her friends would believe her.

"Number two: Stay away from me. Just because I won't be looking to get you, doesn't mean you can just come up to me and expect me not to do anything. As a matter of fact, just keep like a thirty foot radius away from me at all times." Sakura nodded again. These rules were just getting better and better. Ino continued.

"And, as you know I have cheer afterschool til 5 and other stuff, so I'll be coming over at...let's say six?" The intonation of the sentence made it seems like a question, but Sakura knew that it wasn't. She frowned. "Six? Why so late?"

_Wait a minute..._

_Coming over?_

"_Coming over_?" Sakura protested. "Why can't we just do it at the library or somewhere? Because I do _not_ want you at my house." Ino sighed and shook her head like, _This idiot._

"Because then someone might see us," she explained. She pronounced each word carefully as if addressing a slow child. She pushed off of the door and stepped around Sakura, leaving her standing in the stall alone. She glanced back, as if remembering something she'd forgotten. "So what is it then?"

Sakura breathed for the first time in what felt like ages. "I-I need some time to think about it."

"Whatever," Ino replied, turning on her heel and walking out. Sakura watched her leave, unable to see the victorious smirk that had spread over the blonde's features.

_This is a no, a definite no!_

**_But the studying in the library..._**

_She wants to come to the house!_

**_The walking in the hallway..._**

_She's a total bitch to us!_

**_The sweet, sweet view from the front of the room..._**

_I'm going to say yes, aren't I?_

**_Yup._**


	2. Locker Room

**Thanks for the review LezBot :) and yeah, I originally planned Sakura to be a "cool" person, but as I was writing her, her character moved me in a different direction. I can't promise complete originality, but I'm glad this stands out. Also, I have to warn readers, I am a complete comma fiend and I've used them so much that I can't even tell where they belong anymore, so I apologize in advance.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

"It's fine," Ino claimed for the umpteenth time, waving Sakura away. "I've got this one." Sakura remained where she was, hovering anxiously at Ino's shoulder. She craned her neck to see the problem, but was blocked once again by Ino's shoulder and confident words. "Look, can you just _back the fuck up_? You're making this harder just circling like a fucking vulture waiting for me to fuck up."

Sakura bit her tongue, refraining from informing Ino that she didn't have to wait for that to happen. Ino had made not one or two mistakes, but at least seven just in this problem so far. Meanwhile, Ino was circling a decimal looking very pleased with herself. "There," she said triumphantly.

"No," Sakura replied, trying to hold back a smile. _Damn_, _I've never seen anyone _this_ bad as math_, she thought.

**_Admit it_**, her inner self prodded. **_You like seeing her do bad at this_**.

_No!_ Sakura denied. _It's just nice to see her taken down a peg or two._

"Bitch," Sakura heard Ino mutter as she slid the paper back towards herself. She started on the problem again and within the first two minutes made on of the same mistake as before. Sakura leaned over to point it out. "Maybe if you-"

"I've got it!" Ino snapped, brows lowered in concentration. Sakura sighed.

* * *

"She won't listen, like, _at all_ even though she completely sucks at math!" Sakura complained. Hinata nodded and smiled, a typical Hinata response. "And on top of that, she's a bitch the entire time she's there!" She lowered her voice. Even if they were alone in the hallway, there was a chance of getting caught by Ino. The walls had ears after all.

"I'm serious!" Sakura continued, opening the locker room door for Hinata before following her in. "It's been two weeks, three days a week and we haven't gotten _anywhere_. If I have to do this any longer-"

"S-sakura?" Hinata inquired timidly. When Sakura turned she flinched, as if expecting a blow. "A-are you going to change_ in here_?" The last two words were whispered incredulously. Sakura looked around. It had been a while since she'd been in the locker room mainly due to her social banishment from the area, but she'd done her part of the deal. "Yeah," she answered. A thought struck her. "U-unless you're not comfortable, because I'd understand if-"

"It's fine," Hinata cut her off. "We're friends." Hinata offered a soft smile, which Sakura gladly returned. Hinata always knew exactly when she needed reassuring. She had been one of the few in their small group who'd learned Sakura's preferences, and continued treating her exactly the same.

The two began to change slipping off their shirts, and Sakura decided on a casual locker sweep. Nothing too lecherous, just a casual glance around to check for danger or threats or other...other..._other...other...stuff that...other...other...other other other..._

**_Daaaamn, Hinata's got a huge rack!_**

_...other...um...other..._

**_Where does she hide those things?_**

_other...other...other..._

**_There must be some kind of space vortex in that jacket or something!_**

_...checking for...um...other...stuff...that..._

**_See, if I were you, which I am, I would go over there, get one of those babies in each hand and just-_**

_Stop! She just called us her friend! Now get your eyes off those...um..._

**_Jugs?_**

Sakura was still spluttering and trying not to ogle an oblivious Hinata when Temari, Tayuya and Karin sauntered up. Sakura, having forgotten to complete her locker sweep, failed to notice them until Temari had slammed her back against the locker. Pain shot up Sakura's back with a chill from the cold metal quickly following it. Temari locked gazes with her, her lips tilted in the oh-so familiar smirk of a tormentor.

"What are you doing in here _freak_?" Temari demanded. Sakura frowned. What was it about her that made people think "freak"?

_It's the hair isn't it?_ she speculated.

**_Maybe it's that you talk to yourself._**

Another push from Temari brought Sakura back to reality. She looked around the locker room, catching the gazes of several giggling girls who'd formed a loose ring around them before finally locking eyes with Hinata, who was practically shaking. Sakura, looking closer, was surprised to find that it was anger, not fear that caused the tremors. She finally raised her head to look up, right into the eyes of the intimidating blonde.

Anger flashed in Temari's eyes when they met Sakura's, but the emotion was quickly replaced with the expression of a cat trailing a mouse. "Look," she started in a sickly sweet voice. "We just don't want you to be embarrassed okay? We don't want you feeling bad about your protruding ribs, or your utter lack of curves." She smiled while the girls surrounding tittered. Sakura fought the urge to look down to assess herself or cross her arms. She already knew that what Temari said was true, but was not going to let these girls see her doubt herself.

**_Punch her._**

_No!...not yet._

"And while we're on the topic," Temari began again. "Don't think that-" In the middle of her sentence, a huge yawn echoed around the room. All eyes turned to Ino, who was leaning against a locker coolly observing the scene, very much the Ice Queen. "I'm bored," she said, turning to leave the locker room.

Temari watched her walk away, hesitated, then followed with a "whatever" to punctuate her departure. Tayuya and Karin followed closely behind. The group of girls who'd gather round drifted towards the door to the gym as well, murmuring about what had happened. Soon it was just Hinata and Sakura in the locker room.

Sakura turned to finish changing without a word. She wasn't in the mood to talk and Hinata wasn't very sociable when she was angry anyway. So Sakura was surprised when arms wrapped around around her shoulders and pulled her close. She stiffened, then, after a bit, relaxed into the hug.

"What was that for?" she asked when Hinata finally released her, trying to laugh it off.

"I'm so sorry," Hinata apologized, her shoulders beginning to shake. Sakura stepped forward and grabbed Hinata into an awkward embrace. Hinata muttered angrily into Sakura's arm, spitting phrases like "bitches" and "so stupid" and lots of "if I had just"s.

"Don't," Sakura murmured in response. "C'mon Hinata. It's okay. Really, it is. Look, I'm fine now. Maybe it was too soon for the locker room anyway." She remembered her back, which was undoubtedly bruising by now. "Besides I'd rather it be me than you. And look, I've got imperial protection now! Even if she can barely add." Hinata chuckled a little at that. It was small, but enough to show that she was fine for now. Sakura released her gratefully; she really was not one for physical contact.

"Alright! Off to PE then! Mr. Gai better not try to make us put those weights on when we run because I am not going to..." She let herself drift into a mindless rant while inwardly reassuring herself. Everything was okay right now. Everything had fallen into some sort of twisted, precarious balance. She sighed with relief. Everything was just fine.

**_You should have beat the shit out of her._**

* * *

**A/N: I tried to think of an ending but I really couldn't, so I just tried to imagine the last thing that I would think after than happened to me :P Hope you guys enjoyed!**


	3. Ramen

_**So**_** I thought that this chapter would be longer but, surprisingly, I could barely get this out. But that does mean more material for the next chapter so yay! To answer le question, I was thinking about a little SakuHina, but I'm really one for complicated plots or plot twists. I'm too lazy :P and writing in plot twists is sooo troublesome! But still, who doesn't like a little competetion? Guess I'll just have to see about that. All in all, I just kind of had fun with this chapter, hope you guys enjoy, and thanks for the great reviews!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters in it.**

* * *

"Hey um... show me this one?" Ino asked. Sakura looked up from the book she was reading, and looked around the room. _Okay, so there's no one in here but me._

**_Maybe she's on her phone?_**

_Oh, on her phone! That's makes sense._

She had just lowered her gaze back down to her book when Ino spoke again. "Um, bitch don't pretend you didn't hear me. You know what fuck it, I'll just figure it out myse-"

"_NO_!" Sakura practically screamed. "I mean... I guess I could show you. Since you asked." Ino gave her a weird look. "Oh...kay? So number thirty four here is killing me. How would I do that?"

Sakura started in on the problem, beginning with the logarithm then working from there. She unconsciously began to smile as she worked. There was nothing more refreshing to the brain then crunching some hard numbers. She glanced back behind her to a blue-eyed empty stare. "Oh," she noted, remembering what she was there for. "Okay, so um you just take the log of both sides, and there's an exponent here so you can turn that into a coefficient here, and from there it's pretty much smooth sailing."

Ino continued staring. Her mouth worked as she mouthed the numbers, retracing Sakura's steps. "What I don't get is how you... well wait, do you think you can do thirty five? It's just like it and I think if I can see it again then maybe I'll get it." Sakura nodded and started on thirty five, explaining as she went. She was on number thirty eight when the warning bells began to go off.

_She sure needs help on a lot of problems._

_I guess she's more of a visual learner..._

_She's using me isn't she?_

**_Look at the heading._**

Sakura read it. It said, " Math HW #34-40". Sakura felt her breathing began to get harder, and her fist began to clench and unclench over and over, fingernails biting into her palm. "Oh so that's the exponent rule or something? So you move it to the front? But what if it's a exponent like in thirty nine here?" Ino stared up at Sakura, baby blues as innocent as could be.

**_Too innocent._**

"You are such a _bitch_," Sakura breathed, the indignance clear in her voice. "Isn't this the shit that got you caught the first time?" Ino stared back angrily, the injured expression of someone falsely accused. "What?"

"Oh my god!" Sakura screamed. "I can't believe that you would try the same shit on me, like you think I'm that stupid!"

**_Yeah tell 'er Sakura. Give it to 'er good!_**

"Well you fell for it, now didn't you?" Ino snarled back, dropping all pretenses of innocence. She flipped her hair with a scornful look in her eyes. "No need to make a such big deal over it." Sakura froze.

"Get out." Ino turned to stare, blue eyes wide with shock. Sakura didn't wait for her to find her biting words or venomous tongue. She knew she wouldn't win in a battle of words if she lost her momentum. "_Go_," she demanded. Ino huffed and grabbed her bag, storming out with all the dignity she could muster. Sakura stood until she heard the front door slam, then she sank onto her bed.

She laid still for a while until the growing heat in her stomach was too much to bear. She stood up. Sat down. Stood again. Her fists began to curl and uncurl as they did when she was angry and the heat rushed up to her head.

Half an hour later she collapsed back down onto her bed and surveyed the damage. **_Wow._**

_Where've you been?_

**_Went for some fresh air. I had to cool off. So fill me in; why are we in the dark?_**

_I kind of... broke the lamp..._

**_Alright cool, that's why our knuckles are bleeding I presume?_**

_That would be correct._

**_I'm guessing... Ino?_**

_Yup._

**_That bitch._**

* * *

"Well, look who decided to grace us with her presence," a low voice growled from the edge of the table. Sakura groaned.**_ Just what we need, another asshole to deal with._**

She nodded in agreement then turned an exasperated stare towards Kiba, along with everyone else at the table. "What?" he asked, raising his hands in a defensive positions. "I just want to make sure that we're not going to get pelted with food again. Strangely, that only seems to happen when you're around." He threw his head back and laughed at his own joke, flashing sharp canines.

"I think we'll be fine thank you," she replied with a tight smile. She'd planned on sending a few harsh words his way, but had decided that the glares from Shikamaru and Neji were more than enough. Sasuke just leaned back with his signature smirk, as if he was above the mundane interactions.

"I wonder, did something _make_ you such an idiot, or were you just born that way?" Shikamaru drawled lazily. Kiba started to get up, muscles rippling under his long sleeve tee. He may have been sitting with the "freaks", but he was still a football player at heart. Just as he coiled to attack, Neji casually reached forward and put two fingers on Kiba's forehead, easily pushing him back down into his seat. "Don't," Neji commanded, proceeding to eat his lunch. Kiba growled a little longer, to make a point, then began to eat as well.

The rest of the group followed suit, chattering easily now that the tension was gone. Hinata leaned over to Sakura. "S-sakura, um are we s-safe because yesterday you said you kind of...?" She made a few vague gestures. Sakura frowned. _What does she mean?_

_Oh shit, we called Ino a bitch yesterday!_

**_She deserved it though!_**

_Just like we're going to _deserve_ getting hit by food today! Damn it, it's a meatloaf day!_

**_But that bounces off. At least it's not a spaghetti and meatball day!_**

_True, way to look on the bright si- Fuck it's a jello day!_

**_Son of a bitch, we're screwed._**

Hinata watched as Sakura twisted and turned, wondering what inner Sakura had to say this time. However, before she could ask, all hell broke loose. "NOOOOOOOOO!"

The scream bounced off the walls, grating against everyone's eardrums. People turned to the lunch line, where the scream had originated, ready to tear the annoying motherfucker to pieces. Naruto staggered out of the line, looking half-dead. It was obvious that it had been his scream, and the cafeteria went back to normal. They were used to Naruto's antics.

He practically dragged himself to the table, his body seemingly lifeless with shock, but his eyes full of righteous fury. "YOU GUYS WON'T BELIEVE WHAT- Sakura why are you under the table?"Sakura looked up with wary eyes and uncurled from the fetal position. "Oh," she replied. "I was just cleaning my- I dropped something. Down there. Under the table. So I um... went to get it. From under the table. Which was why I was uh... under...the table... So what's happening with the food Naruto?" Naruto perked up, blue eyes blazing.

"OH YEAH! SO, GET THIS, THEY'RE NOT SERVING RAMEN ANYMORE!" The rest of the group looked up from their food, but kept eating, unimpressed. Sasuke shook his head, rubbing his temples as if he had just gotten a huge headache. Sakura took it upon herself as the one to explain.

"Naruto, why did they say they're not serving it?" she asked.

"Um... I dunno. I was yelling too loud to hear actually," he replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. Sasuke released a loud exhalation of air and dropped his head to the table.

"Okay," Sakura continued slowly, as if talking to a child. "How much ramen do you eat on ramen days?"

"I dunno, twenty or thirty bowls maybe?" The rest of the group paused in they're eating and looked up.

"Exactly so- _wait, what_?"

"Yeah," Naruto affirmed, unfazed. "I get here early for breakfast in the morning and eat maybe... seven. Then at lunch I eat at least ten. Then I take some home for dinner and warm up about six of those babies. Sometimes more, sometimes less." Sakura and Hinata just stared, while Shikamaru, Sasuke, and Kiba gave Naruto glares of success. Even Chouji looked a bit sickened by the description.

"Um okay, well anyway," Sakura proceeded, shaking it off. "Where do you get all those bowls?"

"From other kids." Naruto shrugged.

"Okay, now what do they eat?"

"Um..." Naruto thought. And thought. And thought. "Nothing I guess?"

"Therefore, no more ramen days," Sakura concluded. Naruto, deflated, relaizing that he'd caused his own downfall. But, being Naruto, he bounced back a couple minutes later.

"NEVERTHELESS," Naruto boomed, now confident enough to fall back into yelling. His voice, unbelievably, was even louder then before. Sakura could've sworn that she saw the deaf girl from Class 7 cover her ears and wince. "SOMETHING MUST BE DONE! WHICH IS WHY I'M HOSTING A RAMEN PARTY AT MY HOUSE THIS SATURDAY!" It was clearly meant not only for the table, but for the whole school. Someone began to cheer and it caught on quickly until the whole cafeteria was yelling and screaming. _They just want an excuse to get loud,_ Sakura thought irately.

The double doors to the cafeteria burst open and the students quieted mid-cheer. Tsunade stomped over to Naruto, grabbed him by the ear and dragged him out of a cafeteria. "-will _not_ have students causing riots in my school! Who the hell do you think you are, Martin Luther King? Forming mobs and shi-" Sakura caught a bit of Tsunade's rant, but wasn't surprised at the language. Their principal was known for being a hothead.

As the crowd, or rather the "mob", had just begun to settle down when Sakura locked gazes with Ino. The blonde was sitting at the end of her table, cheek resting on her fist. She didn't look flushed and wasn't breathing hard like most people in the cafeteria. In fact, it didn't look like she'd participated in the impromptu rally at all. Sakura observed all of this curiously, all the while in some sort of staring contest with Ino. After a couple more seconds Ino looked away, an expression on her face that Sakura couldn't quite place.

* * *

_Ding-dong_. Sakura's head shot up, gaze tearing from the homework that she'd been working on. _There's no way that that's..._

She walked over to the door and looked out the peephole. It was. She opened the door incredulously, allowing an impatient-looking Ino to breeze past her.

"Took you long enough," Ino said, turning to face Sakura. Her sneer quickly changed into a smirk. "Nice outfit." Sakura looked down at herself. She was in just a sports bra, along with some old basketball shorts and a pair of crusty generic socks.

"I didn't expect anyone!" she protested defensively. "I-" She stopped and looked away, waiting for Ino to speak. Ino shifted uncomfortably. "Look, I shouldn't have tried to get you to do my work, even though that arrangement would be a lot simpler for us." She paused here, giving Sakura a meaningful look. Sakura glared back. She'd made her position on that clear.

"But I really need to learn this stuff so can we just do this?" Ino concluded. She crossed her arms, daring Sakura to object.

**_This bitch! Tell her that she can take her sorry-ass apology and shove it up her ass!_**

"Fine," Sakura agreed. Ino seemed surprised that she'd agreed so easily, but just nodded and went up to Sakura's room. **_What the fuck?_** inner Sakura growled. **_What are you- oh I get it, lure her into the room, get her all comfortable, then beat her ass to the ground!_**

Sakura ignored the voice, instead choosing to sit on her bed and preoccupy herself as she always did. It was nearly time to go when Ino spoke up. "Hey," she called. Sakura went to her. "Why aren't these things carrying over to this one part of the the equation?" Sakura explained the concept to her, then watched her do another problem on her own. She walked back to her bed feeling somewhat accomplished when Ino called her again. _Does she need help again so soon?_ she thought.

"Take that chair and sit here," Ino commanded. "It pisses me off, you just bumbling around like an idiot." Sakura didn't reply, just pulled up a chair and sat down next to Ino. The desk wasn't very large, and if Sakura scooted just a bit to the left, their knees would be touching. She wondered why she noticed that for a second, then disregarded it in favor of correcting a mistake. Inner Sakura was silent, confused by the lack of beatdowns in the room..

"You messed up here," she pointed to the paper.

"_Bitch_," she heard Ino mutter as she leaned forward to erase the mistake. Sakura sighed. They still had a long way to go.


	4. In the Closet?

**I just had to say YES! Shikamaru Author Sydrome was it? Or something like that? Perfect haha. Well, after a long delay, here we go! And thank you for the reviews everyone! Keep em coming, por favor! **

* * *

_These rocks were getting harder and harder to smash through. Sharp chips of stone flew passed Sakura's face. A lone drop of sweat slid from under her headband down into her eyelashes. Her fists began to ache under her gloves and she spotted a rivulet of blood going down her arm. She gritted her teeth and continued pulverizing innocent boulders. If she didn't train with this level of intensity, she'd never catch up to Naruto and Sasuke. She kept up the rhythm of her strikes, ignoring her pain reverberating through her hands and wrists._

_Boom._

_Boom._

Boom.

Boom.

Sakura winced and opened her eyes, then closed them again as fast as she could. Just the light from the window had made the pounding in her head intensify by tenfold. Her tongue felt huge and furry, and her mouth was bone dry. Her skin was sticky with sweat. She tried to talk, but only a raspy croak emerged from her throat. _What the hell is going on?_

Her eyes focused on the clock on the other side of the room. It was 7:39. Shit!, Sakura thought. I was supposed to be up and studying like 2 hours ago! _What the hell is going on?_

She shot up from the bed and winced at the intensified throb of her head. However, her eyes widened again when she heard the two accompanying thuds. She slowly peeked over the edge of unfamiliar sheets to see a very pissed Ino. "What the fuck?" Ino screeched, rubbing her head. She checked her elbow, which looked like it was bleeding. She hissed as she touched it. "Oh my god, you _bitch_..."

Sakura, on the other hand, was speechless. **_This might be a dirty dream right now._**

Sakura could only nod. Ino was clad only in a large T-shirt and a pair of not-so-innocent underwear which were in plain view thanks to the falls that she'd just taken. It only took one jiggle for Sakura could tell that she wasn't wearing a bra. She tore her gaze away blushing. Ino continued to rant, not even taking notice of the intense ogling that had just been going on. Her stream of insults broke off when she saw the clock. "Fuck! Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Well why were you in the same bed as me?" Sakura felt like shooting back. However if she looked back to say that, she might get another look at Ino's boobs and then she'd never be able to look away. Ino scrambled for her stuff on the ground, giving anyone who was looking a perfect view of her ass. Sakura didn't know that of course. Because she wasn't looking. Obviously.

"Fuckshitdammitfuckfuckfuck," Ino went on, finally gathering all of her clothes from the room. She turned towards Sakura, obviously to rant some more, but for some reason her face shifted from intense rage to amusement. "Sorry about that," she smirked, pointing at Sakura. Sakura lowered her eyebrows. Ino never said sorry. **_We must be softening her up eh?_** Inner Sakura smiled.

_Maybe_, Sakura replied. She looked around the room and noted the inspirational posters and workout equipment. _Okay I'm either at Lee's or Naruto's right now..._

What looked like a homemade poster of a cat dreaming about being a tiger with the caption "BELIEVE IT" was front and center on the wall. _Okay Naruto's then._

She got up to leave because, after all, she still had Saturday morning studying to do. As she slowly swung her legs over the edge of the bed, she noticed something moving on the right side of the bed. "Hinata?"

Hinata sat up and looked away sheepishly. "Y-you guys were arguing and I d-didn't want to interrupt." Sakura stared at her for a couple moments then laughed. "Trust me Hinata, you were more than free to interrupt that. Me and Ino have no need to talk."

Hinata blushed. "W-well after last night..." She didn't finish her sentence. Sakura's mind began to race as she considered the implications of that sentence.

_Oh the party was last night... Did I tell them about the tutoring?_

**_Shit!_**

_Dammit if everybody knows..._

**_Wait no! Ino would've been ten times more pissed than she was this morning if we had._**

_So then what? Why can't I remember anything?_

She began banging her head on the wall, gently at first, then harder. She was starting to get real fed up with her faulty memory. Hinata reached forward and gently placed Sakura back onto the bed. "You don't remember?" she asked softly. Sakura shook her head, eyebrows furrowed. As Hinata attempted to gather her thoughts and explain to Sakura what happened, Sakura took the chance to discreetly look her over.

Hinata was in her usual sweater and jeans and when Sakura looked down, she saw that she was still in her jeans as well. _Okay, so not everybody was stripping then._

**_Bummer. I'd like to see Hinata's-_** "So what happened?" Sakura pushed.

"W-well, um, you and her, by which I mean I-Ino and you, were in... well we were p-playing this well um you went to... Ask Naruto!" Hinata fled the room. Sakura shrugged and got up from the bed, and walked down the stairs. Apparently she hadn't been the only one who'd crashed at Naruto's last night. Temari and Shikamaru laid on one couch while Kiba, Neji, Lee, and Gaara all shared the other. Random, nameless kids laid on the floor, a few groaning and holding their heads. Sakura avoided them carefully, and crept through, trying to spot Naruto. After about ten minutes of searching, though, Sakura was done.

_Okay, spend another hour looking from Naruto in what looks like the apocalypse, or get some studying done?_

**_Apocalypse please._**

_Studying it is!_

* * *

Sakura woke up Monday morning and reveled at how good waking up normally felt. She'd spent all Sunday, studying while going through the three stages of a hangover, which she'd looked up on the internet.

First she'd gone through the "Kill Me" stage, within which her mouth was dry, her head was pounding incessantly, and she was throwing up periodically. Throughout all that she'd only gotten three hours in. Then came the "Help Me" stage in which she tried exercising, drinking coffee and drinking other weird mixtures. She blushed at a couple of the other "remedies". The last stage was "Resurrection" in which she ate and drank like crazy. Throughout the day she'd only gotten five hours of studying in.

But Monday was a new day, and Sakura greeted it joy and a renewed vitality. _Hooray for clear heads!_

**_For mouths full of spit and not puke!_**

_For faces that aren't totally red!_

She started getting into her school uniform and was pulling on the dark green skirt when her phone buzzed. She flipped it over and read.

Naruto:** remember no schol 2day. wanna hang?**

It buzzed again.

Hinata: **Sakura, just wanted to inform you that there is no school today as it is Memorial Day. I'm sure you didn't forget again, but just in case I thought I'd text you. Also, Naruto wants to hang out. Are you going? If so, I'll ask my father if I can go as well. -Hinata**

She was starting to text Hinata back saying that she had to catch up with her studying when she was interrupted by several more texts.

Neji: **There is no school today Sakura.**

Kiba: **ey bitch theres no school tday so dont show up again lik a dumbass get ur ass to narutos were doing somethign **

Sasuke: **Can I borrow $20? Thank you in advance ;)**

Sakura frowned at her screen._ I haven't forgotten days we have off that much._

**_Yes, yes you have._**

She shrugged and threw her phone down on her bed. She had no intention of hanging out with anyone; she had a load of homework and studying to do today. She sighed. _This is why I don't go to parties._

**_What's the excuse for not getting laid? I'm horny._**

She was deep in studying mode when there was a knock at the door. She turned and froze, like a bloodhound having caught a scent. Another couple knocks came, impatient and demanding. Sakura got up to answer. "Look Naruto," she started, swinging it open. "Oh. Hello, Ino."

"Hey," Ino said breezing past Sakura. "I wasn't sure if this was still on today, so I just came. Let's do math today because Asuma's been on my case again."

Sakura followed, dazed by how easily Ino had taken charge of the situation in her house. "I was kind of planning on studying today..." she muttered.

**_Speak up! This bitch is in your territory now!_**

"What was that?" Ino asked, putting her bag down. She turned to Sakura with a glare. Sakura felt her face heat up.

"N-nothing," she replied. Ino's gaze moved from her eyes down to her neck, and that oh-so familiar smirk overtook her face. "That came out nicely."

Sakura glanced around in confusion, then went to the mirror. She gasped. There was a huge, purple bruise on her neck. "Y-you, did you hit me?" she asked, rubbing the tender spot.

Ino's smirk grew. "Not quite. You don't remember?"

Sakura began to get defensive. "No. Why?" she asked. "Should I?"

"You really should," Ino laughed.

Sakura ran her hands down her face as she tried to recall. _What was it that happe- Oh._

* * *

"A-a-all my, all my good friends get up here. All my- um Ino, you get up here. Um Kiba, Neji, Lee, uh Sakura and uh H-hinata. Temari too! And uh Sarah, um Tenten, uh... Shikamaru and... yeah. Get up here guys, my room, now!" The chosen few made their way through the teeming crowd, blocking the flailing limbs of drunken dancers on their way. Soon they were all assembled in Naruto's room in a loose circle. Sakura and Hinata sat on the bed, their usual spot when they came over, along with Lee. Neji sat next to the foot of the bed, directly to Hinata's right. The rest sat or laid on the floor.

Sakura rested her head on Hinata's shoulder. She'd had a couple of glasses of juice earlier and she'd been feeling dizzy since. Naruto looked around the circle from the middle, serious look on his face. "I've gathered you all here today," he began dramatically, "to test run my new game." The group gave a good natured groan. Naruto's games were always fun, but they almost always went too far.

"Okay," he said excitedly, ignoring the group, "It's called 'Can You Hang?' and it's a mixture of Truth and Dare, Spin the Bottle, drinking, and stripping. Okay so someone spins the bottle, but whoever it lands on, the person who spun it gives the person it lands on a dare, and if they wimp out, they either have to drink some of this delightful brandy of mine or remove an article of clothing, got it?"

"Fine by me, but why do the buzzkills have to be here?" Temari asked, gesturing towards Sakura's group. Naruto ignored her again. "Okay I'll go first."

He spun the bottle. "Aaaand Sasuke! I'm going to make you regret this, believe it. Okaay, um say "Naruto's better than me at football" three times." The group half-chuckled. The boys' rivalry was really getting out of control.

"Never!" Sasuke replied, taking a deep gulp of the brandy and putting it back in the middle. He reached forward and spun the bottle. "Hmm... Neji. I dare you... to suck Sarah's toe!" Many drinks, many dares, and several articles of clothing later, Ino spun and got Temari.

"Temari, Temari, Temari," she teased, stretching out her now bare legs. "I dare _you_ to make out with Shika." Temari sent her a glare that could brun a hole in a wall. "Oh, and for 30 seconds or more," Ino added.

Temari cursed loudly and reached forward for Shikamaru, falling right onto her face. She'd had a little too much. She picked herself up with dignity and crawled over to Shikamaru, pulling him into what had to be the sloppiest kiss that Sakura had ever seen. She winced and finally looked away when Temari crawled onto his lap. Hinata had her hands over her eyes and the rest shifted uncomfortably. It was getting pretty heated between a very unlikely couple. Everyone had expected her to take the drink.

When the 30 seconds were finally up, Temari crawled back over to her spot and spun the bottle. It was Ino. Temari's grin was the largest and evilest that Sakura had ever seen it, and that was saying something. Ino just smirked, unfazed. Temari's smile got impossibly wider. "I. Dare. You...well let's see. Seven minutes is heaven wiiiiiiiith..."

Sakura watched as Temari's eyes slid towards Lee. _Oh god, poor Ino_, she thought.

**_For real, even I don't hate her that much._**

_Let's just hope for her._

**_Yeah, anyone but Lee._**

Just as Sakura thought that, Temari's eyes flitted to her, then back to Lee, then towards her again. _No, no, no, no, no!_

**_Please be Lee, please be Lee, please please please be-_** "Sakura."

Sakura's cries went unheard beneath the uproar in the room.

"NO!" Ino screamed.

"I'm all for some lesbo action, but that's just nasty!" Kiba boomed.

"Don't do that," Hinata murmured.

"I don't know any of you guys, why am I here?" Sarah questioned quietly.

"Hawt," Sasuke muttered.

"Please no!" Sakura pleaded. "Anything but, I-I'll drink!" She lunged forward and grabbed the bottle of brandy and tipped it up. The alcohol hit her throat, and she coughed and spluttered but kept on drinking. It tasted like a mixture of shoe and cleaning chemicals. She finished the bottle and slammed it down on the floor, daring anyone to question her. And they did.

"It's Ino's dare, you can't drink for her," Temari smirked. "And now all the brandy is gone so..." She shifted her gaze to Ino, as did everyone else. Ino had already removed her pants and bra to avoid other dares. She locked eyes with Temari. They had a stare down. "Fine."

"W-what?" Sakura sputtered while Ino grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the closet. That was all she got out before the door slammed.

"We are not kissing!" she huffed into the dark after a long silence. "O-or anything else!" She blushed at the thought of "anything else". The dark figure that was Ino shifted.

"Of course not," she scoffed. Sakura relaxed. "But I am not going to let Temari get the better of me!" Sakura stiffened. "So what does that mean?"

"It means we pretend," Ino explained.

"Well what does that en-" Sakura winced as her back hit one of the walls not occupied by hangers.

"It means this," Ino whispered into Sakura's ear. The full length of her body was pressed up against Sakura's and she held her by the wrists. Her breasts pressed against Sakura's collarbone, so close to her face that Sakura could nuzzle them if she wanted to.

**_I do want to. I really do._**

_Isn't this the same girl you called a bitch multiple times throughout the week?_

**_No, _****these****_ are her boobs._**

"What are you doing?" Sakura hissed, struggling to free her wrists. Ino slammed them back against the wall. "It's about the sounds, that's all they've got, so we've just gotta make them good," Ino explained.

"Well I don't like it!" Sakura succeeded in freeing her wrists, and she pushed Ino off of her, onto the ground. Ino grabbed Sakura by the wrist again and pulled her down onto the ground. "Don't lie," Ino smiled into Sakura's ear.

She flipped her and Sakura over and then she was on top, knees on either side of Sakura's thighs with both of Sakura's wrists pinned above her head. Her breasts dangled directly above Sakura's face. Sakura bucked and twisted, attempting to knock Ino off. Ino took this as a sign to get more control of the situation, and lowered herself until she straddled Sakura, cutting off all movement.

"Well as they say, you don't know 'em til you've sat on 'em," Ino laughed.

"I'm pretty sure that's just you," Sakura growled. She bucked her hips into Ino in hopes of pushing her off. No such luck.

"Stop," Ino laughed, riding her easily. "You're making me horny."

**_I know the feeling._**

_You are _not_ helping right now!_

"Look," Ino murmured into Sakura's ear. "All I need right now is a nice moan. The seven minutes are almost up."

"I'm not going to moan!" Sakura protested.

"C'mon just-" "No!" she practically yelled.

"Shut up!" Ino hissed. "Fine, we'll do this the hard way then."

Sakura didn't even have a chance to protest before Ino crashed her lips down onto Sakura's. Sakura froze immediately, her reaction delayed by shock. Ino seized the chance and slid her tongue into Sakura's mouth and her leg between Sakura's thighs. She ran her tongue behind Sakura's teeth, creating a ticklish feeling and causing Sakura's body to jolt. A small moan escaped from Sakura's lips as Ino's bare thigh rubbed against her core through the jeans.

"I'm going to need to to do better than that," Ino admonished, pulling back from Sakura's lips. She ran her eyes down Sakura's body before leaning down and kissing Sakura's neck.

"Oh," Sakura squeaked out at the sensation. Her efforts to escape began again, with increased vigor. Ino ignored them, trailing sloppy, open-mouthed kisses down to where neck met shoulder and sucked hard. Sakura writhed and shifted, and tried to remember why she was even struggling.

_I-it feels ssoooooo good!_

Ino pulled back and Sakura let out a sigh of relief. No matter how good that'd felt, she hadn't let Ino win.

"That's not gonna be big enough," Ino muttered, reattaching her lips Sakura's neck. She bit down on the now-tender skin and Sakura arched her back and let out a loud whimper just as Naruto opened the door. Light flooded the closet, clearly showing the two's compromising position as further evidence of the deed. Ino glanced over her shoulder at the door. "Oh, it's over?" she asked casually, standing up and walking out.

Sakura got up with a bit more difficulty and stumbled over to the bed, hyperaware of her flushed face a rumpled clothes. She plopped down next to Hinata, who turned to stare at her as though she was an alien. Mutters broke out in the room and everyone's eyes were a certain pink-haired girl. Ino, they could believe doing something like that, but that moan definitely hadn't been Ino.

"Hawt," Sasuke muttered to Kiba, who had casually placed a pillow on his lap.

"I swear to God I heard, 'Stop you're making me horny'," Sarah muttered to Lee, who was searching for a pillow.

"So um... I guess I'll go next," Sakura heard Naruto say before she drifted, or plunged rather, into total oblivion.

* * *

"You...you!" Sakura exclaimed, scuttling away from Ino. Ino raised an eyebrow.

"Oh so you do remember then? So I really need help on-"

"You, this, this _hickey-" _she whispered the word "-is huge! I can't go to school like this!"

"Calm down dumbass. We're in the winter, I'm sure you have some ugly ass turtle neck to hide that with until it fades. Besides, not everyone gets that treatment, you should count yourself lucky."

**_Tell her I say thank you._**

_No!_

"What did inner Sakura say?" Ino asked, looking amused. Sakura's head snapped up to Ino.

"What?" Ino had never made any allusion to their old friendship before.

Ino shifted awkwardly. "Well I just remember- well it looked like you were talking to her."

"I- she didn't- I, um, nothing," Sakura stammered.

"Fine bitch whatevs, don't have a stroke over it," Ino shot back. "Now could you help me on this fuckin' problem please? I really don't have all day."


	5. Bedrooms

**So I just want to say before I post this to please take pity on me! Blame not me, but the summer activities that I have been invited to! But yes, I did my best to dish out a quality chapter so please enjoy until the next. Which will be soon! Scout's honor! And horrible ending I know, my bad!**

* * *

"And Ms. Sakura," Tsunade began with a predatory grin. "How can we solve the problem of the so-called 'winter pounds'?" Sakura squinted over the side of her arm. She was met with the harsh white lights of the classroom and put her head back into her arms.

_Where am I?_

**_Mmmm... in class?_**

_Oh, in class._

_IN CLASS?_

**_Yeah, in class._**

_What the hell was I doing?_

**_Well, deducing from our level of lethargy and the drool running down our cheek I'd have to say that we were asleep._**

_Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!_

"I'm sorry Ms. Tsunade could you repeat the question please?" The other kids in the class, previously fighting their own sleepiness, leaned forward in anticipation of the star student's first mistake all year. Sakura stifled a jaw cracking yawn as Ms. Tsunade repeated the question.

"Well," Sakura said, mind racing. "I imagine that you could use molecular biology here. Of course we all know that melatonin is produced by serotonin, and that what produces serotonin is triglycerate. Melatonin makes you sleep, and you sleep more in the winter. You need more melatonin to sleep now. So you need more triglycerate. Now that is made by insulin, which is what correlates to the food or insulintake. You begin to eat more in order to get that insulin. So there's the problem. Now the solution would be maybe... take the plasmid and an enzyme as well as... some ligase. And put a gene in that suppresses melatonin. Use the enzyme to cut and ligase to seal it. Maybe use... some kind of vector."

Crickets could be heard in the silence that followed. Tsunade frowned, deep lines forming around her mouth. "I suppose that's enough for now, but I expect a more in-depth answer from you, Sakura. Next time I want specific enzymes EcoRI, HaIII etcetera. Don't think that you can just sleep through this course Ms. Haruno. Even for you, Pre-Med is not a joke."

"Yes ma'am," Sakura replied stiffly, keeping her gaze straight ahead. Tsunade had never had reason to chide the prodigy before. The classroom broke into smothered snickers and Sakura felt the heat of embarrassment creeping up her neck. She knew that it was showing, but kept looking forward, even as pink splotches bloomed on her face.

* * *

"Hey I heard what happened today," Naruto mumbled around a mouthful of grapes. "That sucks." Sakura nodded, accepting the support graciously.

"Well look who it is," a voice announced from behind Sakura. She turned and shot Kiba an especially venomous glare. "It's all over the news: Star Student Drifts Off in Class eh?" Kiba laughed. "Finally someone gets to tell you nice job dumbass!"

Hinata gave Kiba a look as she sat down. "Can you shut up please?"

Neji, as usual, backed up his cousin. "Seriously, could you be any more of a jackass right now?" He shot a sharp look towards Hinata's hand, which now rested on Sakura's shoulder, comforting her. Sakura met his eyes with her own and he shifted and looked away sheepishly.

**_I swear to god, you tell someone you're a lesbian and suddenly you're after _****every****_ girl to talk to you!_**

_Seriously! Prejudice much?_

**_...Hinata's hand feels good._**

_I know it's like soft, and warm. And kind of-_

"Are you okay Sakura?" Hinata interrupted quietly. She knew how much school meant to Sakura, particularly her Pre-Med class. Sakura ran a hand through her hair and breathed out hard in frustration. "Fine," she replied curtly.

"Sakura..." Hinata started. Sakura looked up at Hinata, but was still wondering what she could have done to answer that question better. _EcoRI would've never worked... would it have? _

Hinata sighed. "Never mind."

* * *

"...and that is the reason that 2+2=4. Phew!" Sakura wiped imaginary sweat off of her forehead. It felt good to get back in the zone and get into some Calculus b/c, to explain why things happened in math instead of just stating that they did. Nothing calmed the pinkette more than schoolwork.

As she unraveled a particularly challenging problem, her phone began to buzz. Sakura frowned. Who would text her during studying time? Everyone knew not to bother her during studying time. She shook her head and ignored the text. Whoever it was would have to wait. She went back to work, but was jolted out of her studying trance by the sound of the doorbell accompanied by a couple obnoxious knocks.

_Is that Ino? I thought she wasn't supposed to be here until six?_

**_Um yeah, it's already nine._**

_Oh._

**_Yeah, way to zone out idiot._**

_You know you've been a real jerk lately!_

**_Sorry it's "that time" for me._**

_What? How-_

A now vaguely disturbed Sakura answered the door and stepped back, allowing Ino to breeze past her like she owned the place. As usual. She was just getting ready to ask Ino what she needed help with that day when something caught her eye. "What's up with the bag?"

Ino turned and glared at her as if she'd asked how much she weighed or if the carpet matched the drapes. "Didn't you get my text?" she asked. "I'm staying over."

Sakura's jaw dropped. "S-staying over?"

**_Isn't this how that dream last night started?_**

_Shut up, I do not need to be thinking about that right now!_

**_Fine whatever... Let's just hope that we won't be getting any sleep tonight either._**

_Shut. Up!_

"You can't stay here!" Sakura blurted out. Ino just raised an eyebrow, challenging Sakura to explain why. "My, my mom comes home late, so tutoring is fine, but she won't want a friend staying over. Especially not on a school night!" Sakura nodded, satisfied with her defense. Until she saw Ino's expression at least.

"First of all," Ino began. "_Friend?_ Don't flatter yourself. And secondly, your mom will let me stay over. You know she will." Sakura did know. Just how Ino knew that Sakura could never tell her mom about the school days spent hiding in lockers to avoid torment. How she could never explain that in a mere four months, her best friend had turned into the main perpetrator of said torment. No, as far as Sakura's mother knew, Ino was still a good friend. A good friend who was welcome anytime.

**_So just tell her the truth!_**

_No, she'll just get worried._

**_Yeah, and then call the principal and shut down all those assholes at school!_**

_You know that that'll never work. We'd just get her involved for no reason._

**_Fine, but that bitch is not staying here! We don't want her here at all and have a weird subconscious mind! And neither of those make for a good situation!_**

_Finally you say something intelligent! So what should we do?_

**_Well...um..._**

"Look, you can't stay here okay? My house, this is my sanctuary, a-and you already violate it everyday when you come for tutoring! Are you seriously doing this now? Please, just leave."

**_Nice._**

_Thanks._

Ino blinked. "Um... no. It's getting pretty late huh? I'll take the bed." She sauntered off in the direction of Sakura's room. Seeing Sakura's shocked face, she couldn't resist one last shot. "I mean, me staying here is honestly like a privilege for you." Sakura recovered after a moment and hurried after Ino to make sure she didn't touch anything.

**_That bitch!_**

_Seriously!_

**_I swear to God!_**

_For real!_

**_The nerve!_**

Sakura snorted. "Privilege my ass!"

Ino turned, and unreadable expression on her face. "What?"

"What?" Sakura quipped, mind racing. _Making a lot of stupid mistakes today Sakura!_

Just when she was going to begin some lame explanation about how her desk chair made her ass feel rather rich and privileged, Ino burst out laughing. Sakura stared as Ino wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "Oh my god! That was so inner Sakura!"

Sakura considered going to the window to check if there were any pigs flying about. "Um..."

"I've always liked her," Ino revealed through chuckles.

**_Oh, stop it you!_**

_Oh, shut it you! She was talking about me!_

**_Um, I clearly heard inner Sakura in that statement!_**

_Yeah, but I'm the one who said it!_

"Actually, believe it or not," Sakura started with a nervous chuckle. "It was me who said that, uh, little tidbit there." She added a small smile that looked more like a grimace.

"Oh. I still don't like you. I'm getting changed."

**_Ha. Told y- What the fuck? _****Changed****_? This was in the dream too!_**

_Oh god, I should turn around._

**_This is getting weird! Oh hey watch out there's a-_**

_Sweet mother of god!_

**_-mirror. Over there._**

_Phew, I didn't see anything, just back._

**_God dammit, I only got back!_**

_I thought you didn't like her!_

"I- you should warn someone, like a ten minute warning before you change. And there is a bathroom you know," Sakura complained, using annoyance to mask growing embarrassment. Getting hit with Naruto's jock strap would've made her less awkward than she was feeling now.

"Whatever," Ino said, throwing her hair over her shoulder. She was dressed in oversized T-shirt and a pair of purple shorts. A short pair of purple shorts. An ass hugging pair of purple shorts. Sakura needed time to steel herself against temptation. "Don't you need to go take off your make up?"

"I'm not wearing any," Ino said, adding a "you idiot" to the statement with her expression.

**_Bitch!_**

_Right? Attitude!_

**_No, I mean she's not wearing any makeup? God damn!_**

She walked over to the bed to peel back the pink comforter. She sat down and swung one long, bare leg under the covers before glancing at Sakura, who was working out her sleeping position in the rolling office chair next to the desk. Sakura sat down normally, then bounced twice. She swung a leg over the arm of the chair, or attempted to rather. Instead, she whacked her shin on the arm of the chair and recoiled immediately, throwing herself off balance and tumbling off the chair onto the carpeted floor.

After a couple seconds, she looked sheepishly up at Ino and picked herself up off the ground. She sat back down on the chair, more cautiously this time.

"Oh my god!" Ino exclaimed irately. "Just get over here!"

Sakura lifted her head and gave Ino the look of a child being offered an ice cream cone by an old man. The person offering it wasn't trustworthy in anyway, but the ice cream looked so good. Ino lifted the comforter impatiently, offering Sakura her last chance. "Uh yeah just let me get changed!"

Sakura, not nearly as confident of her body as Ino, fled to the adjoined bathroom. She changed like her life depended on it, scared of a withdrawal of the offer. Inner Sakura, however, seemed intent on distracting her.

**_Okay, I'm just going to say it, I'm pretty sure that this happened in the dream too! This is a bad idea!_**

_C'mon, you felt that chair! And nothing will happen, with Ino of all people? No._

**_But even though I'm sure nothing will happen, what if you have... dreams like you did last night? That'll be an awkward conversation! Or should I say an awkward dunk into the toilet bowl the next day?_**

_I...that...I was just it wasn't...it won't happen again!_

**_..._**

_Shut up okay? I'll be fine! I wouldn't get any sleep in that chair anyway! Besides, since when were you the rational one?_

_Oooh the silent treatment, you're so bad! _

Please talk to me, I need your help!

Fine whatever!

Sakura threw open the door to her room and strode in confidently. Then she caught sight of Ino. On her bed. Sakura felt a strange fluttery feeling start from somewhere in her stomach and she reminded herself to breathe. She crept to one side of the room to turn off the light, painfully aware of Ino's gaze on her just as she flicked off the switch. For a moment Sakura was filled with that feeling of true solitude that only darkness could cause. She listened to the sound of her own breath as it echoed around the room, dimensions made unsure by the lack of light.

"Are you just going to stand there breathing hard like a serial killer?" Ino demanded, interrupting the moment. Sakura snapped out of it, and crept over to the bed. She winced at the creak of her lowering herself onto the mattress, and felt her heart stop when her hand met with soft, supple... pillow.

Ohh thank god! Okay sleeping time!

She stuffed the pillow under her head and stared up at the ceiling. Despite Sakura's wish for a swift, casual descent into sleep, she couldn't seem to get there. And Ino smelled good. Kinda like vanilla and... honey. Hm... What makes Ino head bitch?

_Is it looks? No, because Temari's pretty hot too. I mean blue eyes do seem like they'd be better, but they're about equal. Temari's got that whole melty chocolate thing going on... and a nice body. No, a great body! And that Tayuya, too. I mean it's obvious, she is a cheerleader even if she does have that whole grunge skater look going on. Yeah, and Tayuya's more like you want to put your hands on her hips._

**_And Temari's more like you want her to put her hands on your hips!_**

_Exactly!_

**_But listen, and just give this a chance, if we're talking about Konoha Academy's top bods-_**

_We're not._

**_Whatever. HINATA!_**

_What?_

**_Okay, just think about it. She's sooo hot! And she totally likes you!_**

_Yeah, as a friend!_

**_No I'm talki- Oh fuck shit balls damn fucking son of a bitch what was that?_**

Something had brushed against Sakura's hand, causing a rather uncomfortable sensation to shoot up her arm. She calmed her breathing and laid stock still, waiting for something to happen. She had planned for the incident of someone breaking in, and had decided to stay still and hope that the serial killer would take pity on her. Then she realized that the door to the room had never opened. The contact had come from her left side. Ino.

_Oh. How could I have forgotten about Ino's thing?_

**_You mean her fear of the dark? _**

_Well... yeah._

**_I wonder how those cheerleading bitches, and everyone really would react if they head that their "queen bee" was afraid of the dark? See how much respect she'd get then._**

_Stop it! You sound like some evil movie villain! Everyone has their thing! Have a heart, geez._

Another tingle went up Sakura's arm as Ino brushed her pinky against Sakura's hand again. She seemed to gain a little courage from Sakura's lack of reaction and grabbed Sakura's hand in her own. Her hand was shaking and Sakura felt something kind of warm and... motherly. She swallowed hard and then, gathering up her courage, turned and threw her arm over Ino's waist, pulling her close.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ino hissed. "Get. Off!" Sakura closed her eyes as tight as she could a breathed very, very slowly. She didn't shift or move even an inch. If this impromptu act of kindness was going to work, she was going to need to commit completely. Ino might be too proud to accept this from Sakura awake, but hopefully she'd take the assistance from an unconscious Sakura. Sakura's predictions were validated when Ino relaxed. Soon Ino's breath evened out and Sakura relaxed.

**_Do you seriously _****not****_ have a bad feeling about this?_**

Sakura smiled and closed her eyes, nuzzling a little closer to Ino's warmth.

_C'mon re-_lax_! This is your kind of situation! In bed with a pretty girl! Make a dirty joke, I mean what could go wrong?_

Of course Sakura forgot that those were jinxing words.


	6. Cabins Part 1

**Alright just a small update before I put out the next chapter I've been working on, I kinda needed to set the scene. Okay, okay so I'm not saying that this ****_is_**** a filler chapter, but I can't honestly say that it ****_isn't,_**** but what can I say? Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

It was cold. Sakura groaned and rolled over, groping for the bundle of warmth that had sustained her throughout the night, but only felt cool, smooth silk. She jolted upright and jerked her eyes open, scanning the room. She caught sight of Ino's back and breathed a sigh of relief, laying back down.

"Um, hey," she greeted in what she hoped was a casual manner, propping herself up on an elbow. Ino turned. Sakura was surprised to find that she was in a new change of clothes.

**_ Ooh, the cheerleading number eh?_**

_Shut up._

"Hey," Ino replied, looking a bit unsure as to how to act around Sakura considering the whole "sleeping together" thing. Sakura, on the other hand, was eyeing Ino's attire. Despite quieting inner Sakura, she had to admit that she could understand a guy's attraction to those cheerleading outfits. The green against Ino's made her skin seem even more clear than usual and made the blue of her eyes really pop.

**_That top's making other things pop._**

_Please, I am _begging_ you—_

"So...thanks," Ino continued. She looked at Sakura, then threw something shiny to her. Sakura caught it and uncurled her fingers. It was a silver key. She threw Ino a confused look.

"You know the trip we're taking up to the mountains?" Ino asked. Sakura nodded. The school, being a private school, endorsed a couple ludicrous field trips a year that Sakura was required to go on as class president. This year they had chosen a skiing trip in the Scheien Mountains, in a region of the world jokingly nicknamed "The Land of Snow" due to their weather conditions. Sakura knew all the facts, but still didn't follow Ino's train of thought. "I have a cabin up there."

_Okay...So...she's rich?_

**_You really don't get it?_**

_She gave me a key... to her cabin?_

**_She's offering for you to stay there!_**

"What?" Sakura exclaimed. "No, no you don't have to... I mean as class president I have a responsibility to keep the other kids in check." Ino, who'd been gathering her stuff off the floor, whirled and glared at Sakura, then rolled her eyes.

"Are you serious?" she demanded. "They don't give a fuck if you're there or not, they're still going to do whatever the fuck they want. So you're going to be fucking miserable trying to order them around, all while taking cold baths and shitting in an outhouse. Well have fun with that."

"Okay, okay I get it!" Sakura yelled. "I guess—"

"Good," Ino interrupted snottily. "Bring Sasuke, Naruto, Shika, and the rest of the freaks too, got it?"

"Why?" Sakura asked suspiciously.

"So I can say that I invited Sasuke and that he brought you losers," Ino explained. Sakura hesitated once more, then nodded again.

"I have to go to school early for cheerleading practice," Ino said, flipping her hair over her shoulder. Sakura just nodded again, mind racing and flopped back over onto her side for more sleep.

"And Sakura?" Ino called over her shoulder. Sakura turned over. "Thanks again." Sakura smiled a little in response before remembering who she was talking to. But, to her surprise, Ino grinned back before closing the door behind her.

Sakura laid there staring at the door until she remembered to close her mouth. She fell back hard back onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling, hands behind her head.

_Ino's really pretty huh?_

**_Fucking sexy's more like it! That cheerleading outfit man..._**

_Well yeah, but she's pretty. Like beautiful pretty, like when she smiled._

**_Yeah she has hot lips..._**

_Ugh! To say you have a one-track mind would be an insult to one track minds!_

**_And Beyoncé hips. Yeah, perfect adjective. They should make that real. Beyoncé hips..._**


	7. Cabin Part 2

_**So yeah... here we go. Just wanted to say thanks for the reviews, thanks for waiting, and slendie, you really get it. Sorry to make you wait so long and here you go!**_

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Naruto yelled down the aisle to the bus driver. The bus driver stayed facing the road, keeping the bus steady with one hand as she flicked Naruto off with the other. It was gross misconduct, but at this point nobody on the bus blamed her. Naruto had shown up for the trip in full snow gear. Apparently he didn't take into consideration the five hour bus ride to get to the Scheien Mountain Range. The whole way he'd been complaining about how hot the bus was and gradually pulling off layer after layer of clothes. The only thing that interrupted the sounds was him yelling, "Are we there yet?" at anyone who would listen. Sakura thumped her head against the window and stared at the scenery.

_I swear that kid has unlimited energy._

**_You sound like an old man._**

_I feel like one._

Sakura's legs had cramped up two hours ago, and at this point would have been stuck in their places tucked against Sakura's body even if Chouji's massive weight wasn't keeping them there. Naruto had insisted on sitting behind Shikamaru so that the boy-genius could attempt to teach him the art of chess, but Shikamaru had given up on him hours ago and Sakura was still stuck behind Chouji.

**_Fat ass._**

_Seriously._

**_What? No more Mrs. Nice Girl protesting anymore?_**

_Well maybe I would be a little nicer if I could feel my _fucking_ legs!_

"Are we there yet?" Naruto called up again. Temari whirled from the front of the bus.

"Yes! We're right around the corner so could you please shut the fuck up?" she snapped.

"Seriously?" Naruto practically squealed. He shot up to his feet, craning to look through the window.

"No, you fucking idiot!" Temari sneered. The bus burst into laughter and Naruto sank back down into his seat, a faint pink blush on his cheeks.

"Bitch," he muttered.

"What the fuck did you just say, asshole?" Temari screamed, standing up. Her face burned a bright red and she looked ready to pull out the knife that she always claimed she had. Naruto stood up too, a smirk on his face.

"I said that you're a fucking _bitch_ and that I'm getting pretty damn tired of your fucking _attitude_!" The student body ooh'd and turned back to Temari who's face got red and nostrils flared, much like an enraged bull.

_Okay, what the heck just happened here?_

**_I know right? Bitch looks ugly as fuck right now._**

_No I'm no— Ugh! I mean the fight! How'd it start? It went so fast._

**_Oh well Temari shut Naruto the fuck down and then he bit back like "bitch please, don't even" and now Temari's trying to think of something. I'm going to put 10 down on Naruto._**

_What? No! I-it's both of their faults, okay here goes!_

Sakura stood, grabbing the headrest of the seat in front of her to keep herself steady. "Okay Naruto, shut up. Sit down. Stop making a scene on the bus. We're annoyed enough without you blasting our eardrums with your yelling." Naruto sat down, but not before flashing one more glare at Temari. The student body sat frozen, confused by the memory that the school punching bag was indeed class and ASB President.

"Temari, I suggest you do the same," Sakura added. Temari's expression was incredulous as she tried to compute the fact that Sakura had just ordered her to do something.

"Ummm _bitch_ — "

"Saddown. Shaddup."

At that moment Sakura couldn't have loved the bus driver more. Temari had gotten shut down because even she knew not to mess with a three hundred ten pound bus driver. Bus drivers have seen everything.

_Yes! Hey, just me, the kick-ass President of Konoha Academy. Wassup?_

**_Yeah well if the "kick-ass president" stays standing any longer she's going to fall over._**

_Oh...Thanks._

* * *

_Sweet, sweet ground!_

In that moment Sakura could have kissed it. She considered it, but disposed of the idea after calculating the probability of getting kicked in the ass by one of the cheerleaders. It was too high. She settled for plopping down on the snow covered grass and leaning back.

"Perfect," she purred, closing her eyes and leaning back to lay in the snow. A face appeared in the sky.

"I don't need you to tell me," Ino smirked. "I already know I am. My cabin's about forty minutes away from here. Freaks in the black car." She gestured to the black Mercedes-Benz GL Class waiting there in the snow. Sakura watched as Ino strutted away, allowing her eyes to wander a little lower that acceptable.

"Did I just catch you checking out Ino Yamanaka's ass?" Sasuke murmured, sitting down next to Sakura. She whipped her gaze to him too quickly.

"No! I was... looking at the logo... on the bottom of her jacket," she explained lamely. Sasuke chuckled and leaned back to balance on an elbow, brushing some hair out of his face. Sakura watched him warily.

_How does he always manage to look like a freaking model?_

**_I think that it's the chiseled jaw and piercing eyes... Mmm..._**

_Uh-uh lesbian remember?_

**_Yeah, yeah, it's just so tragic though..._**

_True... why couldn't he have been a girl?_

"It's okay, I get it," Sasuke reassured. "I must say you aim high on the totem pole, but Ino's hard to resist. She's got those — I don't eve know how to say it — these _Beyoncé_ hips. You just want to put your hands on them and rock into them unti — "

"Okay, okay I get it! And I wasn't checking her out, I don't like her like that. Or at all," Sakura hissed.

"If you say so," Sasuke replied easily. "C'mon we're heading to the cabin now." He pushed himself up and then offered a had to Sakura, who refused to take it.

"We just got off the bus," she whined, flailing like an overturned turtle. "They're going to be even more annoying at the cabin I should've just stayed with everyone else!"

"Don't be such a pussy," Sasuke smiled, turning and walking away.

Sakura hmph'd, then groaned as she stood.

_Damn, Chouji's fat really did a number on our legs._

_**You said it man.**_

_Hey, is that..._

The tune of "99 Bottles of Beer" was blaring from the car in Naruto's obnoxious tones. Sakura winced.

**_Jesus, kill me now._**

For once her and Inner Sakura were in complete agreement.

* * *

"Last one down has to flirt with Pervy Sage!" Naruto yelled, nudging the edge of his board off the edge of the slope. They'd gotten to the cabin 10 minutes ago and had barely put their stuff down when Naruto began yelling about getting outside. So they left the awkward room arranging for later in favor of some high-speed fun. "All right on your marks... get set..."

Sasuke slid by casually, punctuating his rebellion with a backflip over Naruto's head.

"SASUKE YOU- you know what whatever guys we don't need him so on your marks..." Once again Naruto was interrupted by a blurred figure gliding by. This time it was Neji on skis, but he looked strange for some reason.

"NEJI ARE YOU SKIING BACKWARDS YOU FUCKING SHOW OFF!" Naruto yelled down as the rest of the group slid down after Neji. "Wait I thought we were going to- ah fuck it." Naruto slid down too, navigating the steep slope easily to catch up to Sasuke, and doing a front flip.

"TAKE THAT!" he bellowed at Sasuke with his signature grin. Kiba slid by both of them, performing a wildcat, then turning around and smiling the kind of smile that made you want to rid that person of their teeth.

"THAT'S NOTHING!" Tayuya screamed from up front. The group all turned to her. They hadn't even notice her get up there and seeing her board they understood why. Tayuya was in her element, and it was obvious from her perfect Backside Misty that she was very experienced. Naruto, who had had his eye on her since the beginning of the trick, went crazy.

"THAT WAS SO PERF—"

Sasuke smirked and Tayuya full out laughed at the sight of Naruto wrapped around a tree. Neji smiled and even Hinata had to release a small chuckle. Naruto pulled away from the tree slowly, then collapsed on to the ground. The group, despite being supremely amused by the run-in, were still good friends and rushed to Naruto immediately.

"Are you alright?" Hinata asked in a panicky voice.

"Yeah you fucking idiot," Tayuya began. "Are you — who is that?" The group all turned to take a look up the hill and almost missed the pink-clad figure shooting down the hill at high speeds on her board. Their heads all moved with the board as it shot up into the air and back down as it completed one of the most complicated tricks they'd ever seen.

"Th-that's Sakura's board... a-and Sakura's clothes... b-but..." Naruto stuttered. Tayuya stood, grabbing her board.

"I need to go ask her how she did that," she exclaimed, gaze still following the pink figure.

"You're going to talk to _Sakura_?" Kiba asked. Everyone but Tayuya turned to glared at him. "Okay that sounded more offensive than I meant it."

"I don't care who it is," Tayuya answered. "That was one sexy trick and I gotta know!" She raced down the hill, attempting to catch up to Sakura while the rest stared.

"I think I might've lost a tooth," Naruto groaned before fainting.

* * *

"C'mon just try," Temari urged Ino. "Look even the pink midget is out the — sweet Jesus what was that? Did you see that?" She turned to the bundled up figure beside her. Ino had sat down and put her face in her arms. She might as well have been a big purple rock. Temari groaned and looked wistfully down the slope. Ino looked up with a glare that could cut through steel.

"If you want to go just go," she ordered in her best bitch voice before putting her head back in her arms. Temari took one more look at her, then looked back at the slopes.

"Fine," she replied angrily. "I'm not going to sit around all day just because you're too much of a pussy to try anything out." And with that, she left.

Ino stared angrily after her for a while, and then stood up creakily. She'd show Temari who was a pussy. Or, more accurately, who wasn't one.

* * *

"Yeah it was uhhh... a fakie backside double cork I think," Sakura explained nonchalantly, taking a sip of water. Or at least she hoped she seemed that way. All this time, Tayuya had never talked to her except to insult, so to have her gushing over her boarding skills was very, very new for Sakura.

"Who'd you learn it from?" Tayuya asked eagerly. Sakura wiped some sweat off of her forehead. Even though the fire in the cabin was very cheery and nice, it didn't feel very good on her hot skin after boarding.

"I watched a YouTube video of it and I figured it out," Sakura said. Tayuya stared. "So I guess YouTube taught me." She finished this with a nervous chuckle. Tayuya was still staring.

**_Oh my god, we're going to get beat!_**

_What? There's no reason her for to hurt us!_

**_There doesn't need to be a reason!_**

_Oh my god, we're going to get beat!_

Sakura cringed away as Tayuya's hand began it descent towards her face, reaching down to grab her... in a friendly headlock.

_What?_

"God damn, Pinky, you're a fucking beast!" Tayuya exclaimed, ruffling Sakura's hair. "You can teach yourself tricks off YouTube? Nice to meet you, I'm your new disciple Tayuya, Mentor!" Sakura felt herself getting red, though she wasn't sure whether it was from compliments, the headlock, or the fact that the side of her face was currently smothered in Tayuya's sizable right boob.

Tayuya released her, and she looked around to make sure that everyone saw that this was really happening. And possibly to rub it in Ino's face. Naruto was definitely watching and Sasuke was smirking right at her. Hinata and Neji were talking and looking, while pretending not to. Kiba and Chouji were scrounging around for food. Shikamaru was, surprisingly, talking to Temari.

"Where's Ino?" Sakura wondered aloud. Everyone carried on with what they were doing. "Hey Temari, where's Ino?"

Temari looked up from Shikamaru and sneered, "Last I saw she was sitting up top on the slopes bitching about how she couldn't ski or snowboard." She turned back to Shikamaru.

"Wait you didn't see her come back with us?" Sakura asked, her blood running cold.

"No!" Temari emphasized, exasperated at being interrogated. "Don't get your panties in a bunch freak. Just watch she'll come through the door any min—" Her speech was cut off by the sound of the door slamming.

* * *

"INO!" Sakura yelled, cupping her hands to amplify the sound. She'd been walking around in the snow for about forty minutes and and the only answer she'd gotten so far was her own echo. She tried again, her voice growing more panicked by the second. "INOOOOO!"

Her foot caught on something and she tumbled to the ground, her head slamming on hard snow.

**_Isn't snow supposed to be _****soft****_?_**

She turned and sat up, checking her foot to make sure that it was okay. While turning it to verify the mobility, something caught her eye. It looked like a little purple rock. She tapped on it. It was rock hard. She stood back and examined it, her mind working slowly through the frozen haze that the cold had created.

_Oh my god._

"You idiot!" she whispered, and began to dig.

* * *

It was warm. Ino cracked open her eyes and hummed appreciatively at the natural light filtering through the window. She felt like she'd just woken up from the best nap in her entire life. She stretched lazily, then fell back onto the bed when a jolt of pain went through her ankle.

"Fuck," she whimper-yelled closing her eyes tightly. To her right something shifted and she opened her eyes again. "Temari?"

"Thank god," Temari exclaimed, a relieved smile on her face. She let out a huge breath of air. "Good to see you back in the world of the living Captain."

Ino smiled at Temari tentatively. Temari only called her Captain when she was very pleased, usually referring to her either as "Yamanaka" or "slut". And last that Ino remembered, Temari was pissed at her.

"Is being around Shika making you a nicer person or am I missing something?" Ino asked with a chuckle, not wanting to break whatever spell had come over Temari.

"You don't remember?" Temari asked, wide-eyed. Ino shook her head.

"So you go off and do some fucking stupid shit, I don't know what, that apparently results in a sprained ankle," Temari explained, gesturing towards Ino's ankle. "That's why your ankle's probably hurting like a bitch right now. Then fucking Sakura —" Ino raised a brow at Temari calling Sakura her name " — comes bursting in the door like fucking... I don't know. Fucking Superman holding Lois Lane or something and in a fucking man voice, no seriously, she's like 'turn on the water'. And you're just lying there like a fucking corpse all pale a shit just hanging there like a fucking — "

"I get the picture," Ino interrupted, holding up a hand. "Wait so Sakura finds me in some random place and... and carries me here and puts me in the bath?" Temari nodded.

"Yeah she just runs in there and we're all like what and so I follow her in to the bathroom and she's just ripping your clothes off — "

"She saw me naked?" Ino shrieked, unconsciously clutching the covers closer.

"Yeah, your clothes were fucking popsicles, we practically had to chip them off you and she puts you in there and you start seizing, and I was scared shitless, I'm not even going to lie. I'm thinking you're about to die. But Sakura's cool she's like that's good it means feelings coming back to something something, medical shit you know? So you're just having like some sorta warmth-gasm or something just happy as a bug in a rug or something like that and then you hit your ankle and you scream bloody fucking murder." Ino blushed for her past self.

"So we take you out and Sakura picks you up again and then everyone's outside they're worried you know and then you're naked so everyone's like "oh my god" and I'm all like "look the fuck away you fucking perverts", it was awesome, you'd be proud of me."

"Would I?" Ino asked eyebrow raised. "Sounds like you didn't do anything at all."

"What?" Temari gasped in mock surprise. "I totally kept them from ogling you and I turned on that bath water like a boss!" Ino laughed and shook her head.

"Besides," Temari grinned mischievously. "You shouldn't talk like that, the best part has yet to come."

"Proceed," Ino nodded.

"So Sakura's trying to figure out what's up with your foot right? And you're kind of up from like the pain right? And you're like Saku, Saku, and Pinky's all blushing but she's staying in character, and gets your foot all wrapped up and whatnot. So she's like to me, ordering me around like she's a real fucking doctor, like 'stay with her to make sure she doesn't move that foot. And then you — " She broke off to laugh. "— you're like Saku don't go, come sleep with me. And you're all pink from the bath and your hair's all messed up and you're looking like a fucking sex goddess and I swear to God you don't even understand how red her face gets. Oh my god and Naruto!" Temari broke off again to crack up while Ino blushed.

"So she lays down and I'm leaving I'm like 'I'll leave you two alone' and she blushes again and I hear you while I'm walking away like 'come closer' and like the loudest, nervousest gulp I've ever heard!" Temari cracked up again as Ino blushed harder. Finally, after two minutes of straight laughing, Temari wiped tears from her eyes and reduced the fit to a couple chuckles.

"Whoo that was funny," she smiled.

"You are _such_ a bitch," Ino smiled back. Temari gave her a "what are you going to do about it" smirk and Ino reached forward, planning to grab one of the four infamous ponytails when a voice stopped her.

"You're going to hurt yourself more," Sakura said from the doorway. Ino pushed herself back to her original position and made awkward eye contact with Sakura.

"I'll leave you two alone," Temari snickered. "I'm sure you guys have a lot to talk about." The two stood awkwardly as they watched Temari leave the room and close the door behind her. Sakura finally stepped forward, breaking the silence.

"Let me check to see how the sprain is doing," she ordered. Ino sat back and watched as deft fingers unwrap the bandages from around her ankle. _Shit, what do you say to someone who just saved your life?_

"Um... thanks." Ino winced at her own stupidity before looking up to meet the largest pair of eyes she'd ever seen. Sakura stared a bit longer then shook her head, snapping out of it.

"It's fine," she replied. "I was just hoping you could tell me how the hell this even happened."

"I... I was so mad that Temari left me because I couldn't ski," Ino began, blushing, "so I went to the other side of the slope for secret training." _That sounded even dumber out loud._

"So, let me get this straight," Sakura chuckled humorlessly. "So you couldn't ski at all, and you decided that the best this to do was to go by yourself to the untamed side of the most difficult slope at the resort and try to teach yourself to ski?" Ino nodded and lifted her head, refusing to be embarrassed by her own stupidity. She coaxed her facial muscles into her "whatever" expression.

"You're lucky you got off alive!" Sakura scolded, then softened. "_We're_ lucky you got off alive." Ino squinted, the "whatever" expression forgotten as easily as an old boyfriend. What was Sakura trying to say?

"You — "

"Alright, alright visitation hours are over!" Temari yelled barging through the door. "At least for freaks they are. Sasuke, you're up next." She winked at the boy, who did not attempt to rise from the couch in any way.

"Uh yeah, well a doctor should be here soon. A real one that is, so I'm guessing you won't be getting up for the rest of the trip so um... rest well." Sakura exited awkwardly. From inside the room the blonde could hear the excited chatter of her classmates, but for one very confused Ino Yamanaka, vacation was over.


	8. Playing Hooky

__**Alright great, next chapter is out. I know it's not my longest but this is not a filler it is indeed furthering the plot! I was going to make in longer, but decided to keep it short and sweet. Or rather, decided to be lazy. Either way, it's here so I hope y'all enjoy.**

* * *

_Oh god what to expect?_

**_Shit, I don't know you only saved the school's most popular cheerleader. Go through the fucking doors I'm dying!_**

_Ugh I don't really need all that, it would be nice just to be left alone for once._

**_What? Fuck being left alone! Royal treatment here we come!_**

Sakura took a deep breath, then pulled on the handle of the right door. The familiar sounds of the bustling school filled Sakura's ears as she attempted to slow her breath. But, as she slowly walked further through the hallway, she began to notice that no one was looking her way. In fact, no one was paying attention to her at all.

_Perfect! This is all I wanted!_

Just as she began to relax into her newfound obscurity, she suddenly found herself parallel to the ground. Her body, used to being tripped, had reacted unconsciously, her hands leaping forward to catch her just before she hit the floor. She pushed herself up with her hands and looked around. The perpetrator was nowhere to be found.

_Maybe it was an accident?_

**_Shut the fuck up. Something's going on here._**

Sakura continued her walk down the hall with a bit more caution, scanning from side to side. Just as she glanced to the left, someone shoved her right shoulder. This one was accompanied by a whisper.

"Fucking dyke."

_What?_

**_How the fuck does he know that?_**

"Dyke."

"Fucking carpet munching bitch." Each murmur was accompanied by a shove, with Sakura too shocked to even respond. She searched the hallway with her eyes to find the source of all this and locked in on the bulletin board. The school newspaper was posted up on the cork board with a huge black and white picture of Sakura looking lovingly at a woman. The headline read: **President Involved in Far-Fetched Female Fling?**

Sakura got closer and leaned towards the picture. The woman — no the girl, was Ino while her ankle had been injured. However, her hair had been down, so she was practically unrecognizable to anyone at school. She had worn her hair in the same ponytail since third grade.

_Oh god..._

"I knew she liked girls."

"It was so obvious."

"Fucking lesbian cunt." Then the hallways fell silent. Sakura turned towards the doors of the hallway to see Ino, Temari, and Tayuya strutting her way.

**_Fuck this, we can't even fucking process right now. We're bailing._**

Sakura followed instructions and headed towards the door, ignoring the exclamations that arose behind her.

* * *

"Hey," a tiny voice said from Sakura's doorway. Sakura didn't turn to look, instead choosing to stay on her bed, an arm flung over her eyes.

"How did you get in Hinata?"

"You left the door unlocked," Hinata replied, approaching the bed hesitantly. She sunk onto the bed slowly, waiting for Sakura'a reaction, but none came. "I heard what happened today."

"Did you really?" Sakura asked sarcastically.

"Sakura..." Hinata pleaded, leaning forward. Sakura knew that Hinata didn't know what to say, and was making this intentionally difficult.

"Hinata," Sakura mimicked, lifting her arms from over her face. Hinata was surprised to find that her eyes weren't red or puffy in the slightest. "Don't try to cheer me up, or convince me to fight back. I don't want advice from someone who can't even confront their crush."

She smirked, a smug smile that quickly faded when she saw the tears forming in Hinata's eyes. She sat up quickly, scrambling for something to say.

"Shit, I'm sorry Hinata I — " Sakura fumbled, running a hand through her hair. "I was hurt, so I lashed out, and when I do stuff like that I'm honestly worse than the people who started it. Especially when I'm lashing out at a friend as awesome as you. Thank for coming by. Oh, and uh sorry again." She searched Hinata's eyes with earnest green ones, grasping Hinata's hand.

Hinata blushed and stammered out, " I-I know you're r-right I should've t-told Naruto by now but — "

"No Hinata you don't have to justify yourself to me!" Sakura exclaimed. "I was just being a dick honestly I — "

"I know, but I should tell you that — "

No seriously Hinata, I know how hard it is to — "

"I think I like someone else!"

**_Wait what the fuck?_**

_How long has she like Naruto again?_

_**Since the fucking womb that's how long!**_

"H-Hinata, who — how..."

"That's what I was trying to tell you!" Hinata exclaimed. "I was going to confess to Naruto, but that made me realized that I liked... s-someone else."

"Well when did that happen?" Sakura asked, throwing up her hands.

"I don't know," Hinata replied. "The beginning of junior year?"

"We're like halfway through now!" Sakura gaped. "And you didn't tell me?"

"W-well I had to make sure I liked them!" Hinata shrilled back. Sakura let out a breath she hadn't known that she'd been holding.

"Well now that you know, who is it?" Hinata fidgeted.

"Um... I can't tell you."

"What?" Sakura yelled. "You can't just hold me in suspense like that!"

"B-but well you wouldn't like it," Hinata warned shyly.

**_Oh my god it's fucking Kiba!_**

_No! No! She wouldn't stoop that low!_

**_We're talking about the girl who had a crush on Naruto._**

_Oh god it's Kiba!_

"Okay well maybe you could just give me some hints," Sakura suggested. "Like what are they like?"

Hinata thought, then nodded. "O-okay well they're very sweet and th-thoughtful. Kind of emotional and silly, but also kind of strong and I don't know just makes me feel safe. They flirt without meaning to and say nice things and make me... um they're very smart and re-really cute." She blushed at the last part and covered her face with her hands.

_...Lee?_

"Wow, it sounds like you really like this guy," Sakura smiled, leaning forward one hand. She used the other to reach out and touch Hinata's cheek. "Blushing is so cute. There aren't that many people who blush any more, but it suits you." Hinata just nodded, incapable of words.

"Not to be shallow, but can I just get maybe a vague physical description?" Sakura asked curiously. "I mean you said he's cute and Naruto's not too bad so I know you have good taste." Hinata nodded again.

"S-sort of small, b-but really strong and well built I guess. Um... I don't know a normal nose, and nice skin and pink... l-l-lips and really bright, warm eyes," Hinata described, avoiding looking at Sakura's face.

_...maybe Lee?_

**_No, not fucking Lee! No way!_**

_But like, through the eyes of someone who likes him._

**_Ugh that's hard to imagine okay um... maaaaybe._**

"I think I know who it is," Sakura said, hitting her comforter with her fist and leaning forward.

"You d-d-d-d-d-d-do?" Hinata asked, fear and hope dancing over her face.

"Yeah it's obvious it's — " Suddenly a conglomeration of loud guitar and drumming interrupted Sakura, causing Hinata to jolt back.

"Hello?" Sakura said, answering her phone.

"Why the hell are you not in class?"

"I'm sorry Ms. Tsunade I was — "

"Yeah, yeah I don't want to hear your bullshit excuse, just have your ass here tomorrow, 7 o' clock sharp."

"Yes ma'am!" The call ended and Sakura turned back to Hinata.

"What was I saying...? Oh yeah, do you want to grab something to eat since we're already ditching? Go hit the town, paint it red, raise some ruckus?" Sakura asked, suddenly feeling playful.

"Um sure," Hinata replied, "but — " Once again the mood was destroyed by the oh-so-badly-timed rock music ringtone.

"Hello?" Sakura answered.

"Where — "

"Go fuck yourself," Sakura interrupted. She hung up and turned back to Hinata. "Alright ready to go?"


	9. Big City

**Sorry if this one's kind of... different maybe. I don't know I wrote it while I was really tired and I like it, but I can't help but feel like there's something off about it... Oh well! So sorry for the late update, I was working on a chapter for my other story FOUR NATIONS ACADEMY (free advertisement), but I accidentally deleted the chapter and can't get it back so only this story gets an update it looks like. Crap I'm rambling, um just, enjoy the chapter. Thanks for all your awesome reviews you guys are so cool and supportive and keep on reviewing por favor!**

* * *

The desk shook as the metal crutch collided with it, sending a pissed blonde hurtling towards the floor. Temari reached forward and caught Ino, pulling her back up to a standing position. At this point, she was used to catching Ino, who was having trouble getting ahold of the art of crutch walking.

"God dammit!" Ino swore, stomping with her crutches. "I thought these were supposed to be walking aids not fucking death traps!"

"It's really not that fucking hard bitch!" Temari exclaimed, exasperated. "Put the fucking crutches in front of you! Swing your fucking body forward! Stop your body with your fucking foot! _Repeat_! Jesus fucking Christ!"

"Well maybe if these _fucking_ — "

"Okay both of you, seriously, chill out and stop blaspheming," Tayuya intervened, raising her arms to form a physical block between the two. "We've been around each other too much lately."

"That's because fucking _Jennifer Lawrence_ here can't be alone for one fucking second without fucking reinjuring herself!" Temari said, pointing an accusing finger at Ino. "Where are you going anyway?"

Ino looked at her, confused. "I'm going to practice. We need to brush up on our indoor routines for basketball games and rallies, and I think we should add a couple new flips." She noted Temari and Tayuya's blank stares.

"Well the captain can't really go missing practice, can she?" she asked frustratedly, pulling out a compact and touching up her makeup. Temari and Tayuya looked at each other, then back at her.

"Ino..." Tayuya started. "Uh..."

"What?" Ino asked.

"Well uh... you know, you..." she tried again.

"What?" Ino asked. "Spit it out!"

"You can't be cheer captain with all that shit!" Temari burst, gesturing toward the foot brace and crutches. "Coach already put someone else up."

"What?" Ino gasped, turning her head sharply. "Which bitch is trying to take my fucking spot?"

"Well for now the captain is... this bitch," Temari chuckled awkwardly, pointing to herself.

"What the fuck Temari?" Ino spat.

"What? Temari replied, confused.

"I should've know you're a fucking backstabber," Ino sneered. "Is this all you fucking wanted? As a matter of fact did you fucking plan this? I guess that's what happens when you trust fucking two faces."

"The fuck?" Temari cursed incredulously. "Here I am fucking saving your spot like some bitch in line and — you know what, fuck you. I fucking can't right now." She stalked away angrily. Tayuya turned back to Ino, fury in her eyes.

"Seriously, like what the hell Ino?" she said, turning and leaving as well, pushing through the crowd that had formed. Ino whirled around to watch her go, then turned to glare at the crowd.

"What are you guys looking at?" she sneered. "You, frosh, hold these." She handed her crutches to the terrified freshman.

"And you four, you look athletic," she purred to four heavily muscled boys. "Mind doing me a favor?"

* * *

"That's it!" Naruto exclaimed. "You have to stop!"

Sakura looked up from her chicken noodle soup and turned to see who Naruto was talking to. His eyes remained on her as she pointed to herself questioningly.

"Yes, you!" he clarified, exasperated. Sakura's face quickly shifted from confusion to anger.

"In that case, what the hell are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about!" Naruto hissed. "Ditching school two or three times a week, wandering around school like some sort of zombie, fucking looking down while these assholes talk shit about you! You're so much better than this! If you're not going to let us do something about this, then you have to!" Sakura listened impassively, and then leaned forward, her face twisting into a sneer.

"And what? Give in to these bastards and give them the reaction that they want? Blow up and beat the shit out of a few of them? Tarnish my record for the likes of them? I'm trying my _fucking hardest_ to stay calm until I can get out of here. I still have straight A plusses and an immaculate record. All I need is a few days away from this _shitty_ place sometimes and you're really giving me grief over that? Sometimes it's so horrible I — you know, never mind you wouldn't understand." She got up and turned from the table to walk away, but was stopped by Naruto's hand around her wrist.

"_I_ don't understand?" he whispered harshly, trying not to cause a scene. "Why? Because I'm on the football team and 'popular' now? Do you know how long this took me? Just to be _accepted_ here? You know what things were like for me before! I'm not looking for sympathy, just how could you say that _I_ don't — " He cut himself off, noticing Sakura's wince. He let go of her wrist, revealing a series of red marks on her wrist and stared for a moment before storming out.

* * *

_"Alright, you can go, but don't forget your coat," Mrs. Haruno warned, sending six-year-old Sakura scrambling to her closet. "And don't forget I don't want you around that Uzumaki boy."_

_"But Mommy the teacher says we have to be nice to Naruto because he went through a lot," Sakura said sweetly. "He doesn't have a mommy or daddy."_

_"Well... I don't feel comfortable telling you this," Sakura's mom. "But Naruto's mommy are daddy are gone because of that boy. He's got... problems sweetie and I don't want you around him, got it?"_

_"Got it," little Sakura nodded, returning the standard answer._

* * *

She shook her head, clearing her mind of the depressing thoughts. That was in the past, before they'd discovered the truth behind Naruto's tragic story. But even though it was in the past, she had no right to disregard the pain he'd felt. He'd been bullied as much as her, or worse. She had to apologize.

She ran out the double doors, ignoring the stares that their argument had caused.

"Naruto," she huffed as she caught sight of him. "I'm so sorry, what I said was just — " Large arms circled around her, cutting her off.

"I'm so sorry," Naruto murmured into pink hair.

"No _I'm_ sorry!" Sakura replied, feeling even guiltier than before.

"Seriously _it was me_," Naruto argued, pulling her closer.

"It was my fault, I went too far, _I'm_ sorry," Sakura said. "Okay can we stop, for some reason I feel like a huge asshole right now." Naruto laughed and let go of the shorter girl.

"But seriously, you need to get it together," Sasuke commented, appearing out of nowhere and looping an arm over Sakura's shoulders. "We all think so." Sakura looked around, noting all of her friends gathered around her.

"Fine," she sighed. "So now what?"

The group exchanged glances before deciding simultaneously, "New clothes!"

"What's wrong with my clothes?" Sakura asked indignantly. The group eyed her high-water jeans and Disneyland shirt from when she was seven.

**_Everything._**

"Everything," Neji snickered. The rest of the group joined in, excepting Hinata of course. Sakura blushed and turned to go back to the school.

"There, there it's okay," Sasuke comforted dispassionately. "We'll go on Saturday. Because if Neji's talking about your clothes, it's time."

* * *

"Where the fuck is that bitch?" Temari muttered under her breath. Tayuya caught the question and smirked up at the taller girl.

"Aww, you're worried," she teased, poking the sandy **(get it? sandy? okay sorry...)** blonde in the side. Temari hit the hand away irately.

"I'm not fucking worried, it's just that three's a group, you know? Two people's just a couple of fucking loners. Beside how the fuck is she even getting around?" Temari wondered aloud. "She's probably out there on the fucking floor in a ball blood spouting outta her head and shit — "

"Calm down," Tayuya laughed. "I'm sure that she's — my god."

"That fucking bitch!" Temari exclaimed, mouth hanging open. Ino laid atop what looked like a rug stretched between two wooden bars as four hockey players toted her above the crowd.

"Like fucking royalty," Temari whispered. "Who the fuck does she think she is? I don't know why I even bothered worrying about that slut."

"So you were worried," Tayuya pressed, smiling.

"Shut the fuck up," Temai murmured.

* * *

"I like this one," Neji offered, holding up a flowing white long sleeved top.

"For the last time Neji, no way!" Naruto exclaimed. "Everything you pick looks like something a Buddhist monk or retired hippie would wear!"

"Naruto!" Sarah gasped.

"It had to be said," Sasuke said, soothing her with a hand on her shoulder.

"This one's fucking sexy," Kiba grinned.

"Okay, but not everyone's an asshole who wears sleeveless shirts all the time to try and show off their tattoos," Naruto shouted, throwing his hands up in the air. He began flipping through some jeans. "We need it to be confident, but subtle."

"Okay I get all the confident-but-subtle parts, but my question is, why are we in the men's department?" Sakura asked angrily, running a hand through her hair. The boys looked at her in surprise.

"Because you're a lesbian," Sasuke pointed out, an unsaid "obviously" resounding through the store.

"Yeah a lesbian, not a _guy_," Sakura argued. She turned to Hinata. "Okay would you rather see me decked out like a dude, or dressed up in some nice girl clothes?"

Hinata fidgeted awkwardly and blushed, sliding behind a rack of pants. "I-I think you'd l-look good either way," she whispered.

"Sakura you don't even like girl clothes!" Naruto pointed out

_I like them on girls!_

**_I like them _****off****_ girls._**

_Where've you been?_

"And besides," Naruto continued, interrupting Sakura's inner conversation, "we're not just trying to make you look good here, we're trying to make a point."

"Exactly!" Kiba agreed.

"So what's the point?" Sakura asked Kiba.

"Uh..."

"The point is," Naruto took over, "that when someone points out a flaw, you either get rid of it, or make it into something that's just part of you! Now can you give up being a lesbian?"

Sakura thought about it. And thought some more. Her eyes shifted back and forth from Hinata's boobs to the crotch of Sasuke's pants. Could she give up on boobs... forever?

**_Hell no!_**

"No..." Sakura admitted out loud. "Fine. But at least look for jeans in the women's department. I refuse to sag. That is just so not attractive." Naruto and Kiba both reached down to pull up their pants, blushing.

"Got it," Sasuke said. All eyes turned to the wall that he was leaning on, the epitome of cool. "Sakura need to be me." Everyone in the group but Naruto slowly began to nod.

"Are you kidding me?" Naruto snorted. "You are so concei— "

"It's the perfect blend of cool and casual," Sarah agreed with lovestruck eyes.

"Yeah, just girl it up a bit and even that bitch could be a little hot," Kiba nodded approvingly.

"Hey 'that bitch' is right here, asshole," Sakura yelled. "But for real, I think this is it. This is the look."

"But you can't just dress like me," Sasuke continued. "You've got to show these bastards that you're above that. That you're fucking unflappable. You must become Sasuke."

"Okay, yeah yeah whatever, but understand Sakura," Naruto began dramatically, "this isn't about the clothes or even looking good really, it's about your attitude. It's about showing those fuckers that they don't faaze you. So even though the clothes may be Sasuke, you don't have to be. Just be new Sakura. New don't-fuck-with-me-Sakura."

"The attitude, the clothes, the hotness, yes. To survive I'll need it all," Sakura repeated, ignoring Naruto completely. "I _will_ become Sasuke Uchiha."

"Looks like these bastards messed with the wrong lesbian," Naruto smirked, creating a perfect ending point for the chapter. The group ignored him.

"Look out Konoha Academy, here we come," Sasuke smirked.


End file.
